Margaret Clark Journals

Location: Parting of the Ways, Wyoming - Where the
California/Oregon trail and the Mormon Pioneer trail separate.

Summary: The
Wagon Train moves on....to more sagebrush fields.... near Parting
of the Ways

Journal entry:
My niece and nephew, Heidi and Mark Fetzer, are walkers today. It's
really nice having them here for two days. We were told at morning
devotional today that the trail today is some of the most pristine
and unspoiled trail in all of Wyoming. It is on a slight decline,
as we have passed over the continental divide.

The handcart company left early and were escorted by the BLM into
the area of the two tracks of the Mormon Trail. This is also an
area that shows three sets of wagon ruts, side-by-side, coursing
through the sagebrush desert. The wagons followed about an hour
later. We had two wagons with break-downs today. One was quite serious
and sent the driver, Brenda Cornell to the hospital in Rock Springs.
She suffered broken ribs and a ruptured spleen. We certainly worry
about her and we pray in our devotionals for her recovery. She is
quite a woman and we look for her return with us.

Can I say......many of us are getting tired? I have been sick with
a cough for over two weeks and I am dragging. I don't think I am
alone, either. Many of us are really ready to get to Salt Lake Valley.
And this wilderness we have been passing through for the last two
weeks has been so hard. We are dirty. Many have not bathed for a
long time, and our last baths were in streams or out of tiny basins
with a quart of water. We wash out our clothes in basins and hang
them out to dry in the sandy wind. Or we just pull out the least
dirty clothes to wear, or we just never change our clothes. I think
I've had these clothes on now for at least four days. And forget
my hair!!!!

We had such a wonderful devotional tonight. We sang songs, then
hymns. We were feeling badly for Bre's accident today, and hope
she recovers quickly. It was just a very close feeling with our
group. We almost didn't want to go back to our tents. But tomorrow
comes early. HappyNetTrekkin